Will You Give Me Shelter?
by Miss Bonnie Madness
Summary: When Steve Rogers wakes up after 70 years on ice, his world was turned upside down. With everyone he knew either dead or deteriorating, he has no one to turn to - until he meets strange Marcella Stanton. The only problems? She swears like a sailor, constantly makes references Steve doesn't understand, and is kind of the world's best computer hacker. Whatever that means. StevexOC
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, hello, hello! This is Bonnie with a newwww story coming out! I've got a few other Avenger stories out there and what I've got in mind is to play out those plots and then tie them all together in one final piece. Of course, gotta finish each individual story first. Womp womp.**

 **So yeah! This is an OC/Captain America shindig. Only the plot and my lovely Marcella Stanton. (pronounced marchella, with tha CH yo)**

 **Uhh, yeah, I don't really have much else to say. Leave reviews, I love to hear what you guys have to say! On to the story!**

* * *

 _I'm a hurricane_  
 _I'm a freight train_  
 _Ain't the right way,_  
 _But it's the only way I know_

Shelter by DOROTHY

* * *

Even when they dug that time capsule of a man out of the ice, Natasha never thought her job would entail babysitting. For God's sake she was an spy. Of the highest caliber. Watching after some icy, old grandpa was not in her job description.

It's not like Natasha was bitter.

Okay, maybe a little.

Clint got to go off on some mission or other in Austria, and Natasha was here. In New York. Walking around with a kid in a massive candy store.

It wasn't that she was mad at him – he couldn't help the fact that he was found on ice nearly seventy years later. But SHIELD honestly couldn't find _any_ other agent to watch him? No one had that kind of clearance? What is this world coming to?

It had been a week since Cap's re-integration into society. Nat had kept him inside most of that week – minimal exposure to the outside world, mostly catching up on news, important movies, and training when they both got restless. Today was going to be a special day, though. Today Natasha was taking him out into the real world. Or close enough to it, anyway.

"I ought to warn you, the language might be a bit… Much." Natasha warned Steve. He was going to ask what she meant by that, but he had no time as the two had just walked up to the door to the place.

He followed Natasha into a small hole-in-the-wall establishment off of the main street. The décor from the front window made Steve think of Alice in Wonderland – had that literature survived over the decades? A bell tinkled from inside as Natasha opened the door. The room was warm and cozy, the style reminded Steve of home. Bittersweet thoughts rushed to his head as he remembered Peggy Carter, Bucky Barnes, the Howling Commandos, all of them. He suspected Natasha brought him here to try to give him a taste of the older times he emerged from, a sweet gesture, but the pain was still so fresh. Discomfort was written all over Steve's face, and he almost asked Natasha to leave, until a little bundle of a woman came barreling towards them.

"Nat, you whore!" The petite woman squealed excitedly and wrapped Natasha in a hug. Natasha gave the woman a rare smile, and absolutely did not miss the appalled look on Steve's face. Is this how everyone greeted each other in this day and age? Steve did not want to be a part of this.

"Steve, meet Marcella. She runs the place." Natasha introduced the two. Steve looked down to the small girl. Her green eyes smiled back up at him.

"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am." Steve greeted politely.

"Ooh, a dapper one! Nice to meet you, Steve-O! Are you the reason Nat isn't coming around here anymore?" The woman, Marcella, wriggled her eyebrows suggestively. Steve's face flushed a bright red as he stammered out a denial to her comment. A sly grin played on Nat's face as she watched him struggle, and Marcella was just bent over laughing. "I'm only kidding! Don't take it so rough, jeez. Don't act like you wouldn't wanna take her home anyway." She snorted. Before Steve could issue more protests, Marcella guided the two over to a table and laid a simple menu in front of Steve.

"Usual Jasmine Oolong for you, love?" Marcella asked. Steve looked over to Natasha confused, until she nodded an affirmative to Marcella. In turn, the small woman set off behind the counter and began working.

Tea.

It was a tea room. No wonder the whole place had that older Alice in Wonderland feel.

"And for you, dear?" Steve felt eyes fall on him. He opened his mouth to respond, but when he saw the options on the menu he was sorely confused. This was much more tea than he was used to. What even _was_ Tuo-cha Pu-erh tea? This must be made up.

"Surprise me." He finally managed to spit out some words. Marcella simply nodded and began humming as she set about her task.

"So, you like it?" Natasha asked quietly. Steve was looking around at it all. It felt so surreal.

"It, uh… Reminds me of home." He told her lamely.

"Marcella loves everything vintage and old. Though it's all only aesthetics, I figured you might enjoy this place. It takes a bit to warm up to Chel's mouth, but you get used to her soon enough." There was only the slightest tinge of concern in Natasha's voice, so small Steve was sure he imagined it. Stoic, poker-faced Natasha Romanoff did not feel sorry for anyone.

"How did you find this place? Doesn't seem like your usual… hang out." Another smirk graced Natasha's face.

"True. I was on a mission, pretty sure I was being tracked. Come to find, Marcella has the only property in New York that's totally off the wireless grid. Nothing works in here, save for the main lines to the building. Easy to lose any WiFi tail in a place like this." As Nat explained the location, Steve looked as his new cell phone – sure enough it was off. He furrowed his brows.

"How does that work? How did she get this place?" Natasha shrugged nonchalantly.

"Chel said she bought the place because of it. She hates how people are constantly on their cell phones and messing around with technology, and she didn't want it here. It kinda goes with her theme." Natasha pointed out. Steve nodded, not knowing how such a thing could be possible, but not voicing that.

"So, is she…?" Steve didn't audibly voice the question he had, just hoped that Natasha could mentally pick up what he was putting down.

"No, she's a civilian. Chel has no idea." Steve was relieved. After seeing nothing but SHIELD agents day in and day out, it was nice to have someone to be around with no ulterior motive. Though he couldn't help but notice the warning tone that was in Natasha's voice. Chel was someone to be kept in the dark. This was only a surface deep relationship.

"Here we are!" A chipper voice came from behind his left shoulder. Two small pots of tea and tea cups were placed in front of the pair. "Your usual, with honey, Nat. And you remind me of an old simple soul, Steve-O, so I just got you some Earl Grey, hope you don't mind. I'll brew a new one up if you want something more _exotic_." She wiggled her fingers, accentuating the last word. A small smile broke out on Steve's face.

"Thank you, this is perfect." He responded. Marcella beamed at him and pulled up a seat next to the pair.

"Been awhile, Nat, I thought you left me." Natasha gave the woman a reserved smile and the two began chatting. Steve tuned them out as he finally took in the woman before him. Marcella was small, especially compared to his frame. 5'4" at her best, though he noticed she took to wearing heels. Her vibrant red hair was styled up, much like something Peggy wears – used to wear, rather. Her clothes and makeup were rather similar, too. Save for the small jewel on her nose and sleeve of tattoos on her right arm, Marcella would've fit in perfectly in his time period. Well, except her mouth, too. In the short time Steve had known her, he noticed that Marcella was _very_ uncouth.

"Oh, now that is some baby-back-bullshit!" Marcella's voice rang through the empty shop, snapping Steve out of his reverie. A smile was decorating her features, despite her foul words. "Gone on a job my white ass. It's been months! Plus, where did you pick this guy up if you were gone the whole time, huh? Just some random hobo off the street?" Marcella snorted. Natasha rolled her eyes at Marcella's dramatic antics.

"What, are you keeping tabs on me now, Marcy?" Natasha asked sarcastically, though Steve noticed the pleased lilt in her voice. She liked being around someone who wouldn't take any of the venom she spat seriously. It was strange to watch.

"Oh please, hun, if I wanted to watch you, you would know it." Marcella gave a suggestive wink to Nat, which elicited a small laugh out of her. Steve flushed again, not used to anything near this amount of innuendo in one conversation. He stuck to quietly drinking his tea, and not adding anything to the conversation. After a few more minutes of inappropriate chatter, the two were finished with their tea, and wrapping everything up to leave.

"Stimulating conversation, as always Marcella." Natasha thanked the woman as they walked to the counter.

"You're the blessing of my existence, Nat, any time." Marcella grinned. She waved the woman off as she tried to pay for their drinks. "I've got you this time, just no more month long dry spouts! I can't stand not talking shit to customers." Natasha nodded with a small smile.

"No promises."

"And nice to meet you too, Steve! Hope you come back around – I'm always here."

"Thank you, Marcella. You'll probably see me again." He thanked her, and with that the two left.

* * *

It was a normal job for RED. As normal as finding a job on the dark web because you're a master hacker is, anyway. Simple for someone of her caliber – just had to hack into some super secret government organization's database, find some information on some super secret people, and that was it! Piece of cake, easy payday.

RED click clacked on their keyboard, intently staring at the illuminated screen before them. Black Widow, that's what they were on the look out for. All known aliases, the usual rundown.

As RED searched through folders and records, the golden egg showed itself before their eyes.

"Perfect!" RED grinned and opened the files, curious as to who the mark was this time. RED clicked open the last known photo of this 'Black Widow,' for the sheer curiosity factor RED couldn't knock. It took a moment, but the photo loaded.

RED knew exactly who it was.

"Oh. My. God."

* * *

 **Next chapter will be longer, I promise! Had to leave you guys with some mystery so you come back! :P Leave comments and love, and see you guys next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Helloooo all! Welcome to my second chapter. Please read and review, I'm not above begging~ Not a whole lot to jabber on about, so, read, review, gimme love! Thanks all, and on to the story!**

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 _I feel happy, I feel sad, I feel like running through the walls_  
 _I'm overjoyed, I'm undecided, I don't know who I am_  
 _Well maybe I'm not perfect, at least I'm working on it_

Hello Cold World by Paramore

* * *

SHIELD was in full swing when Natasha walked in from her late night call. This wasn't the first, nor would it be the last time that she was awoken from sleep for the job. Nat stalked passed the agents heatedly clacking away on their keyboards in front of giant computer screens. Something's got everyone up in a frenzy. Steve, still bleary-eyed, was following closely behind Natasha. Out of the corner of her eye, Natasha saw Clint Barton emerging from the shadows. So he had been called in too.

"Know what this is about?" Clint asked as he approached the two. Natasha merely shook her head no.

"It's about a potential security breach, and all of you are in danger." Director Nick Fury's voice boomed from a platform over them. He turned to face the three of them, his expression grim. Natasha's brow furrowed as she looked up to him.

"What happened?" With a few clicks on the computer, a giant screen behind Director Fury showed a pixelated skull with the letters RED above it. The skull started laughing, and the screen bled pixelated red. After the screen was washed in the color, the image reset, and started over again.

"This is what happened when an agent tried to enter new information into our agent database an hour ago. Every agent's personal information and known aliases are on this server. Anyone we have deep cover could potentially be known."

"What do you want us to do about it?" Clint asked. Even as some of the top agents, they could only do so much. Neither of them were incredibly computer savvy. And Steve certainly wasn't any help with any technological undertakings.

"Couldn't afford to tell you over the phone. We're not sure the extent of the virus, if it's broken through our secured networks or not. Just be careful. Keep a low profile. Go somewhere for a while if you have to. Just don't be noticed." Natasha and Clint nodded an affirmative. Before the group of them left, Natasha's cell phone went off. An eyebrow raised and she answered, wondering who could be calling her this late.

"Hello?" Clint and Steve watched as Natasha's face went through a range of emotions.

"How did you get this number?"

"…" There was a muffled voice on the other end of the line, but neither Clint nor Steve could understand the words.

"Calm down." Natasha's voice was strict, and full of authority.

"…" The voice sounded more frantic now, and Natasha had to hold her cellular away from her face so as not to deafen herself.

"Fine, I'll be there in fifteen minutes." Natasha looked stern as she hung up. Clint and Steve looked at her questioningly. "Follow me. We're going to a friend's." She said quietly, Clint assumed so as not to alert the other SHIELD agents around them. He wondered what was said on the phone that deemed for so much secrecy among coworkers.

* * *

Natasha sped at an alarming rate in her car. Steve vaguely remembered the directions they were following. Wasn't this near Marcella's? Natasha left her car in a dark, obscure alleyway and the three walked ever closer to Marcella's tea shop.

"Nat, why are we here?" Steve asked quietly. Natasha didn't answer. Her face was determined and all of her focus was towards her surroundings. Any twitch of movement out of line, and it would be annihilated on site. Without any confrontation, the trio reached Marcella's tea shop. The lights were off and the blinds closed – it looked like no one was home. Natasha wrapped on the glass door. The blinds opened a fraction, just long enough to confirm who was there, then the door swung open.

"Quick, quick, get in!" Marcella ushered them inside with hushed whispers. As soon as Clint brought up the rear, Marcella slammed the door behind him. Another cast iron gate was slammed shut – one Steve thought was just for décor, but turns out it wasn't – and it was bolted shut, with several locks. The windows also had wrought iron filigree protecting them from intruders. At night, Marcella's very warm tea shop seemed very… Creepy.

"Marcella, what is this about?" Natasha finally spoke up, her hand on her hip, looking very irritated.

"Shh! Still not safe…" Marcella looked around suspiciously. "Who's this?" She asked, pointing to Clint. Chel was more on edge than Natasha had ever seen her before.

"He's my partner. Marcella, what the hell is going on here?" Marcella shushed her once more, then beckoned the three to follow her. They cut through the kitchen in the back of her shop, and into the closet that was filled with cleaning supplies. The four of them crammed into the small closet, and Marcella flicked on a light switch.

"Marcella, what are we doing!?" Natasha was losing her patience for her friend who had seemingly fallen off her rocker.

"Move, move, move." Marcella ignored Nat's outburst and ushered the others out of the middle of the room. Another button by the light switch was pushed, and a few of the floorboards seemed to crack open. Steve was watching in awe as Marcella revealed to them her secret hatch.

"It only works when the door is closed. No one thinks about that." Marcella tapped her temple with a slightly mad grin. She led them down the ladder and into her secret lair. Natasha watched, unbelievingly as they descended.

"Welcome to my command center." Marcella flourished her hands as they took in the sight. The room was mostly computer, which Natasha thought was excessive, but then again the woman did have a secret room underneath her tea shop. On one of the many screens was Natasha's file… From SHIELD.

"Marcella…" Natasha said dangerously as she approached the screens. It held all of her aliases, information… Everything. "Why do you have this?" Nat's fingers inched toward her holstered weapon, and both Clint and Steve looked as if they were about to pounce as well. Marcella held up her hands defensively.

"Look! I didn't know it was supposed to be you. I swear I didn't!" Her voice was panicked.

"Explain yourself!" Clint spoke up, straight to the offensive. Marcella winced.

"I am, I am! Look, Nat, I mean. Like. I didn't mean to _lie_ to you or anything, it's just… I'm kind of, like… An awesome hacker?" Marcella shrugged her shoulders up, more like a 'sorry' than anything. Natasha just looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"You think anyone can live in New York City off of owning a meager tea shop? Please! It's a fun cover though…"

"Get to the point, Marcella!"

"Right, so, yeah. I'm the hacker, known on the Deep Web only as RED. I make all of my money, you guessed it, hacking shit for people. Need information about a new prototype from a competing company? I'm your girl. Stealing floor plans from a national museum? Easy peazy… Collecting files from a top secret government agency…?" Marcella left the question unanswered. She was hired to get information about Black Widow. She had no idea it was Natasha.

"So what did you give them?!" Clint was beyond angered now. He grabbed Chel by the collar of her shirt, which only made her flail helplessly.

"Nothing! When I found out it was Natasha I called her immediately! BUT NOW," She gulped, "My employers are going to be wondering why they don't have what they paid for. And they're gonna be _pissed_ when I don't deliver."

"Can't you just give the money back?" Steve piped in. To him, the solution seemed simple enough. Clint let Marcella go, but he still looked incredibly angry.

"I charge a _steep_ price for US espionage – and the type of people who hire that aren't going to take 'Just kidding, I changed my mind' very well. Natasha, look. Apparently you're like some super badass secret agent – I didn't give these guys anything. There's no doubt they're going to come looking for me when I miss my drop time."

A frown marred Natasha's face. This woman who had been her friend for all this time had lied to her all this time… But then again, so had Natasha.

"What about the laughing skull? You've corrupted half of our mainframe!" Clint was still being the aggressor. He didn't trust Marcella as far as he could throw her. Chel waved her hands.

"Standard protocol. I got to virus up your computers so I can get some alone time with the documents. By the time the virus is usually taken care of, I've already been long gone. I can take care of it – you know, as long as you don't kill me please." Chel looked rightly terrified of Clint. Steve didn't blame her for it.

After a long silence, Natasha spoke up.

"We have to take her back to SHIELD."

"Natasha!" Clint protested immediately. She held her hand up to shush him.

"We can detain her there if we must. Fury will know what to do from there. But she isn't any good to us dead, and there's no way we can keep track of her in here."

"I swear, I'm never avoiding background checks of my friends again." Chel mumbled. Steve looked on, concerned, but not willing to intervene. He didn't understand even half of what was going on, so he felt like he wasn't in a position to contradict what either of the other agents said. The least he could do was make sure she wasn't mistreated, he supposed.

* * *

The ride back to base of operations was silent. The once very vibrant Marcella was now incredibly solemn. She was constantly fiddling with her thumbs, not knowing what to do with her hands otherwise. Steve watched Marcella – he could practically see the wheels turning in her head. Nerve-wracking possibilities stacking up, fear coating her face. In the closed in car, Steve noticed the earthy tea scent that surrounded her like a soft perfume. It was strangely calming. Steve felt bad for her even though he barely knew the woman, she had been kind. In her own, slightly vulgar way. He hoped she wouldn't get in too much trouble with the Director.

* * *

"Director Fury." Natasha's stern voice held authority over the entire building. The way she spoke demanded that people listen to her – a trait that Steve thought Nat had in common with his dear Peggy Carter.

"What are you still doing here, Romanoff?" His voice challenged hers over who would be the most menacing. Clint emerged from behind her, Marcella's arm grasped tightly in his hand. Nick raised his eyebrow at her questioningly.

"This is Marcella Stanton," Natasha explained, "or, RED." Marcella felt so small in front of all of these agents. Director Fury's face did not betray any emotion, he simply nodded at her.

"And how did you come about Ms. Stanton?"

"We were… acquaintances." Natasha stated emotionlessly. Chel felt a stab of guilt with Nat's words. It wasn't Nat's fault. And it wasn't Chel's either… It was just a strange, unfortunate turn of events. Director Fury turned his eye to Marcella, directing all of his attention to her.

"So, Ms. Stanton. What does RED have to do with SHIELD personnel files?" His voice was calm, but Marcella could feel the venom from it seeping in to her veins. She took in a deep breath, an attempt to compose herself, but it didn't help as much as she had hoped.

"Sir," She began, unsteadily, "I'm a hack for hire. I take odd jobs from the Deep Web, usually illegal shit, won't lie, but I get paid a metric fuck ton, and as soon as I saw Nat's face for this job I called her, I swear I didn't give them anything." Near the end of her speech she began muddling all of her words together, swearing more when she got nervous. She bit her lip as she looked between the two of them. At least she was honest, right?

"How do we know we can trust you?"

"Uh, fuck, well, I-i…" Marcella sputtered not knowing what to say. Natasha quickly cut her off before she said anything too stupid.

"Fix the computers." She said plainly. Marcella looked over to Natasha with blank eyes. Nat raised an eyebrow, subtly hiding a smirk. "Fix them." Marcella nodded dumbly, knowing she could, but… Was Natasha really on her side?

Under the very watchful eye of Director Fury, and a few other tech wizards on site, Marcella sat down to one of the computers.

"This is connected to the whole network?" The computer whiz hovering over her looked at Marcella suspiciously. "Well I can't fix everything on the network if I'm not connected to it, thundercunt." She deadpanned. A small, sly grin made its way to Natasha's face. _That's my girl_. Several, long minutes passed by, Marcella's deft fingers flew over the keys at what felt like an imperceptible speed. Before anyone knew it, the laughing skull was gone. Everything was restored and in its rightful place. Steve watched the woman, in slight awe of her ability.

"Does that suffice?" She asked Fury directly. He gave the woman a curt nod, which elicited a smile from the fire haired woman. "Nowww, about that part where whoever hired me, someone scary I'm sure, is potentially going to hunt me down and eat my innards for breakfast?" Fury frowned. It was apparent to everyone else in the room besides Marcella that he was tired of her foul mouth and bizarre antics.

"Do you know who hired you?"

"The point of the Deep Web is anonymity. I'm sure if this guy is ballsy enough to hire me to excavate secret government organization's files, he's very careful about hiding himself. Or, on the other hand, he isn't. And is biding his time for a kick ass ass kicking. Either way, I'm not about to out myself trying to find this fuck. Despite common belief, I _do_ enjoy my life, and keeping it intact thank you very much."

"…What if we set a trap for them?" Steve asked innocently. He wasn't too sure what he was wading in to here, but he got an A+ for effort. Marcella looked blankly at him. Honestly, it wasn't the _worst_ idea… Marcella just was a little lacking on the offensive side. Save her language.

"I mean… I can lead a trail back to me. Chill out as bait until these guys come to murder my face off… Where hopefully Nat will swoop in and save me. And Steve-O here, he looks like he can bash some Internet mafia dudes." Marcella looked over to her friend with a weak smile. Natasha gave her an almost imperceptible nod of reassurance. A small wash of relief came over Marcella. She wasn't alone.

"Then that's that. We'll lead whoever wants us right to our front door. And we'll be ready."

* * *

 **Weeeeell that's all for my second chapter! Hope you guys like it. Leave love and comments! Stay beautiful!**

 **-Bonnie**


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